Holy Conferencing

I've traveled to Norfolk, VA today for the Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. The first night is always a Eucharistic service in memory of ministers and their spouses who have died in the past year. I learned that a minister acquaintance-friend of mine passed away in February. A time of remembering is very important. Grief isn't evil, even though it can be quite difficult. When I think about the remembrance that we give Christ when we celebrate the Last Supper, what grief did the Disciples feel? Maybe grieving and honoring the fallen saints is very Christ-like. Didn't Christ visit the fallen saints and bring them into the Kingdom? As painful as mourning and grief are, they're natural human emotions. Expressing them is difficult and I had a rather difficult time holding myself together. Maybe such is to be expected? I don't know. What I will say is that in the midst of the rewards and frustrations of Annual Conference, remembrance is always first - when we remember the life and purpose of Jesus and the commands and virtues of the Holy Spirit that we are given. As I attend the somewhat grueling meeting at The Scope, could be a time to "scope out" a memorial of the Wesleyan Heritage that shapes me as a Christian and what's important to me in my life as a Christian. After all, when we as Christians - specifically United Methodists - gather together, Holy Conferencing is meant to occur.